Coming Home A 5 1/2-month-old Boy Born With Medical Problems Leaves The Hospital For First Time.

April 12, 1988|By KEVIN ALLEN, Staff Writer

Carlos Oliveira took his son home from the hospital on Monday convinced more than ever of his faith in God, his adopted country and, most of all, his baby`s innate desire to survive.

``I can`t believe he`s my son,`` Oliveira said as he prepared to take Calvin home for the first time since he was born 5 1/2 months ago. ``He`s been through so much. But he was born in the right country. America is a country of fighters and survivors. I`m proud Calvin is an American citizen.``

When Calvin was born at Northwest Regional Hospital in Margate, only 5 percent of his small intestines worked. He may be the first to survive such a condition.

``Basically, he had an abdominal catastrophe,`` said Dr. Joseph Schulman, Northwest`s director of neonatology. ``There`s probably no one in the world who has survived with less of a small intestine.``

Calvin, something of an in-house celebrity at the hospital, caused a stir as his father and nurses carried him through the hallways.

Hospital staffers from receptionists to doctors cooed baby talk to Calvin and wished his father good luck.

``He`s a very special baby,`` said nurse Teri Sherrin, Northwest`s director of children`s services. ``There`s an intrinsic part of Calvin that`s a fighter.``

``I`m not real religious, but there`s someone watching over this baby,`` said nurse Chris Perry, who cared for Calvin since he was born.

So far, the 13-pound infant`s life has seemed inspired. He was born about five weeks prematurely. Four hours later, surgeons discovered that 95 percent of his small intestine was dead. When the operation was complete, Calvin was left with a digestive system far inferior to what standard medical wisdom said was capable of keeping him alive.

Current medical thought holds that a newborn`s small intestine needs to be at least 27 centimeters long for the baby to survive, Schulman said. Calvin was left with only 13 centimeters.

``It was an interesting medical case, but an interesting ethical question as well,`` Schulman said.

It was a question of balance, Schulman said. Calvin could probably be kept alive with intravenous feeding, but what kind of life would it be?

``What we said is we think there`s a reasonable expectation of Calvin enjoying life,`` Schulman said.

Calvin`s birth weight of 6 pounds 3 ounces dropped by half the first week, while he was being given nutrients through a needle. Doctors then inserted a feeding tube to his stomach and another to deliver nutrients directly to the large artery of his heart.

During the delicate procedure, the wall of the artery was nicked and a few days later Calvin`s heart failed.

Another operation was ordered and the tube was replaced. Almost immediately, Calvin`s condition improved dramatically.

Also during the operation, doctors discovered, as they had hoped, that Calvin`s intestine was regenerating. In the short time, the organ had grown from 13 centimeters to 32, which makes it possible for him to digest about one third of the nutrients he consumes.

``The hope is it will continue to grow. If he survives, his case will probably be written up in medical journals. He could set a new medical standard,`` Schulman said.

All through their baby`s hospitalization, either Oliveira or his wife, Adriana, remained at Calvin`s bedside. Adriana, a waitress at a Deerfield Beach hotel, took a day shift and Oliveira began working evenings as a waiter at an Italian restaurant in Deerfield Beach.

``My wife had a wonderful pregnancy. We felt so bad after he was born. We just cried so much. But on the other hand, he was alive. All we could do was take it one day at a time,`` Oliveira said.

Carlos Oliveira had left Adriana in Brazil in 1983 to come to the United States. He spoke no English and had no money, but he landed a job and worked as much as he could until Adriana could join him a year later. They were married by proxy; lawyers arranged the necessary paperwork, and they were reunited in South Florida.

They worked hard, decided to marry again in a church ceremony and saved enough to buy a house in Deerfield Beach and start a family. Calvin was born on the day they were to close the mortgage on their home.

But with the birth of their first child, the Oliveiras` life changed again. ``Since he was born, we never took one foot out of this hospital,`` Oliveira said.

Nurses who attended Calvin were impressed with the family`s dedication.

``The devotion, I`ve never seen anything like it before,`` Sherrin said.

``They would fall apart for a short time, but they`d get themselves together,`` Perry said.

It was a trying time, Oliveira said. But by the time he took Calvin home on Monday he said he was thinking further in the future than just one day at a time.

Oliveira knows that Calvin will remain dependent on pumps and tubes to live. He also knows that the process eventually is likely to damage the baby`s liver. But for now, Calvin`s survival is enough.

``If we can keep him alive maybe something in science will come along to help him,`` Oliveira said.

Calvin`s condition is still a delicate balance, Schulman said. The baby`s intestines must continue to develop enough to sustain him before his liver is damaged, the doctor said.

``So far the balance has worked. We might just sneak him through and have a survivor,`` Schulman said.